G650GS sighting!

I was at Cal BMW yesterday to pick up parts. I wanted to sit on the low seat F800GS (still too tall, rarrrr) and, while I was doing so, I noticed this little gem parked nearby.

Looks like a 2005-08 F650GS, right? Definitely not the 2009 F650GS with its dual headlight, parallel twin engine, and cast wheels.

But no! This is the rumored 2009 G650GS!

Now this is more like it again.

Single cylinder? Check.

Spoke wheels? Check.

Single headlight? Check.

Ahhh. Peace and sanity has been restored to BMW. I hope they keep the G650GS around for a while and don't kill it immediately.

I think the new F650GS (the twin engine one) is pretty neat but it's definitely a street bike. It's a commuter. Which is great and awesome, but I wouldn't buy my bike with cast wheels and the extra width that the twin engine brings.

I'm not going to run out and buy the G because it's essentially my bike, but I'm very psyched about the continuation of the species, as it were.

The BMW line:
“BMW Motorrad USA is pleased to announce the introduction of the G 650 GS. This bike is the reintroduction of the discontinued F 650 GS (Model Year 2007), due to popular demand. The naming convention was changed to maintain consistency between engine families. Since this bike is a single cylinder it now belongs to the G series.
Even though the previous model was wildly popular, several updates were still implemented. The new G 650 GS has been fitted with the updated ABS system found on the rest of the G series and is fully disengageable. The engine has also been updated. It now shares the same engine as found in the 2009 G 650 Xcountry. As a result the engine color is now black instead of silver.
The G 650 GS represents the most affordable way to join the GS family. To make this bike more appealing to entry level riders the base MSRP will be $7,670 (excluding freight) and only 2 options and 2 colors will be available: Deep Black and Red.
To add to the tremendous value of the G 650 GS, ABS, Heated Grips, and Hazard Flashers are standard!
To appeal to a wide variety of riders such as beginners, women, etc., the G 650 GS is available with Low Suspension. The seat heights are as follows: Standard -30.7″; Low Susp.- 29.5”
My line:
That’s a very, very good price, given that ABS and heated grips are standard. It’s barely more than a V-Strom 650 with ABS. I’ll be giving the “new” G650 GS serious consideration.

> Are the spoked wheels better for dirt
> riding, or is this more of a personal
> preference?
The short answer: spoked wheels are way better for dirt riding, since they have both more strength and more flexibility than cast wheels.
> Do *any* dual sports that you’ve come
> across have a shaft drive?
Not that I’ve seen. Chains are de rigueur for dualsports since they’re lightest, cheapest, and easiest to change/repair in the wild.

“Are the spoked wheels better for dirt
> riding, or is this more of a personal
> preference?
The short answer: spoked wheels are way better for dirt riding, since they have both more strength and more flexibility than cast wheels.”
I am glad that someone else asked this, but I have to question the answer as per strength. I am not an engineer so I don’t have lots of mind boggling equations to throw out there – but if spoked wheels were really stronger wouldn’t everyone that abuses their equipment (like maybe Baja truck racers) use them? Ah, well time to wander off and question the engineers I know…

I’ll take a stab if you like :-).
I believe it’s to do with the way that spoked wheels handle shock loadings compared with cast wheels.
You could build a spoked wheel for a car but it would be ridiculously complicated and difficult to lace. And then you’d almost certainly need to use a tube tyre in it, which would be a serious limitation in its own right. Also, cars generate much greater side loads than motorcycles are capable of, and spoked wheels work extraordinarily well with the spokes in tension and compression, but the forces generated by a Baja truck drifting sideways at 80mph amd hitting a rock would not be playing to their strengths.
Finally, you wouldn’t run cast wheels on a race truck but you would very probably run mild steel wheels. The weight difference between four steel racing truck wheels and four spoked wheels of equivalent strength as a proportion of overall unsprung weight would be relatively small, and the gyroscopic effects of heavier wheels relatively unimportant on a truck.
By contrast, replacing spoked motorcycle wheels with pressed steel wheels of equivalent strength and durability would probably significantly increase the unsprung weight and ruin the handling.
Jeez.. that almost sounds credible, doesn’t it 🙂

Carolyn,
In light of what looks like a *major* repair now on your F650, is the ’09 G650 something you might reconsider? I’m guessing a head gasket on a BMW (disassemble, replace, rebuild) isn’t going to be cheap.